Wireless audio system and method for wirelessly communicating audio information using the same

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of wireless audio systems and methods for wirelessly communicating audio information are disclosed herein. In one example, a wireless audio system includes a first and a second wireless headphones. The first wireless headphone is configured to receive, from an audio source, audio information using a short-range wireless communication, and in response to successfully receiving the audio information from the audio source, transmit a first error correcting message including an error correcting code generated based on the audio information to a second wireless headphone. The second wireless headphone is configured to receive the audio information from the audio source using the short-range wireless communication, attempt to correct the received audio information based on the first error correcting message, and determine that the received audio information fails to be corrected. In response to the determination, the first wireless headphone is further configured to transmit a second error correcting message including the received audio information to the second wireless headphone.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 201910386827.3, filed on May 10, 2019, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to wireless audio systems.

Loudspeakers, including headphones, have been widely used in daily life.Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around thehead over a user's ears, which convert an electrical signal to acorresponding sound.

Wired headphones, however, constrain the users' movement because of thewires (cords), and are particularly inconvenient during exercise.Conventional wireless headphones no longer need the wires between theheadphones and the audio sources, but still require the wires betweenthe left and right headphones.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of wireless audio systems and methods for wirelesslycommunicating audio information are disclosed herein.

In one example, a wireless audio system includes a first wirelessheadphone and a second wireless headphone. The first wireless headphoneis configured to receive, from an audio source, audio information usinga short-range wireless communication, and in response to successfullyreceiving the audio information from the audio source, transmit a firsterror correcting message comprising an error correcting code generatedbased on the audio information to a second wireless headphone. Thesecond wireless headphone is configured to receive the audio informationfrom the audio source using the short-range wireless communication,attempt to correct the received audio information based on the firsterror correcting message and determine that the received audioinformation fails to be corrected. In response to the determination, thefirst wireless headphone is further configured to transmit a seconderror correcting message comprising the received audio information tothe second wireless headphone.

In another example, a wireless audio system includes a first wirelessheadphone and a second wireless headphone. The first wireless headphoneis configured to receive, from an audio source, audio informationcomprising a header and a payload using a short-range wirelesscommunication. The second wireless headphone is configured to receivethe audio information from the audio source using the short-rangewireless communication and transmit at least one of a first ACK messageindicating the second wireless headphone receives the header and thepayload of the audio information correctly, a first NACK messageindicating the second wireless headphone receives the header, but notthe payload, of the audio information correctly, or a second NACKmessage indicating the second wireless headphone does not receive theheader and the payload of the audio information correctly to the firstwireless headphone. The first wireless headphone is further configuredto receive the at least one of the first ACK message, the first NACKmessage and the second NACK message, transmit, to the second wirelessheadphone, a first error correcting message comprising an errorcorrecting code generated based on the audio information in response toreceiving the first NACK message, and transmit, to the second wirelessheadphone, a second error correcting message including the receivedaudio information in response to receiving the second NACK message.

In still another example, a method for wirelessly communicating audioinformation is disclosed. Audio information is received from an audiosource using a short-range wireless communication by a first wirelessheadphone. The method includes, in response to successfully receivingthe audio information from the audio source, transmitting, by the firstwireless headphone, a first error correcting message comprising an errorcorrecting code generated based on the audio information to a secondwireless headphone and receiving, by the second wireless headphone, theaudio information from the audio source using the short-range wirelesscommunication. The method also includes attempting, by the secondwireless headphone, to correct the received audio information based onthe first error correcting code and determining, by the second wirelessheadphone, that the received audio information fails to be corrected.The method further includes, in response to the determination,transmitting, by the first wireless headphone, a second error correctingmessage comprising the received audio information to the second wirelessheadphone.

In yet another example, a method for wirelessly communicating audioinformation is disclosed. Audio information is received from an audiosource using a short-range wireless communication by a first wirelessheadphone. The method also includes receiving, by a second wirelessheadphone, the audio information from the audio source using theshort-range wireless communication and transmitting, by the secondwireless headphone to the first wireless headphone, at least one of anACK message indicating the second wireless headphone receives the headerand the payload of the audio information correctly, a first NACK messageindicating the second wireless headphone receives the header, but notthe payload, of the audio information correctly, or a second NACKmessage indicating the second wireless headphone does not receive theheader nor the payload of the audio information correctly. The methodfurther includes transmitting, by the first wireless headphone to thesecond wireless headphone, a first error correcting message comprisingan error correcting code generated based on the audio information inresponse to the first wireless headphone receives the first NACKmessage, and transmitting, by the first wireless headphone to the secondwireless headphone, a second error correcting message comprising thereceived audio information in response to the second wireless headphonereceives the first NACK message.

This Summary is provided merely for purposes of illustrating someembodiments to provide an understanding of the subject matter describedherein. Accordingly, the above-described features are merely examplesand should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter in this disclosure. Other features, aspects, and advantages ofthis disclosure will become apparent from the following DetailedDescription, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form partof the specification, illustrate the presented disclosure and, togetherwith the description, further serve to explain the principles of thedisclosure and enable a person of skill in the relevant art(s) to makeand use the disclosure.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating an exemplary wirelessaudio system in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the exemplary wireless audiosystem in FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless headphonein accordance with an embodiment.

FIGS. 4A-4G are timing diagrams of exemplary wireless audio systems inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are depictions of exemplary BLUETOOTH audio data packetsin accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a depiction of an exemplary header of an ACK or NACK messagein accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for wirelesslycommunicating audio information in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary method forwirelessly communicating audio information in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating still another exemplary method forwirelessly communicating audio information in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating yet another exemplary method forwirelessly communicating audio information in accordance with anembodiment.

The presented disclosure is described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. In the drawings, generally, like reference numbers indicateidentical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, generally, theleft-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in whichthe reference number first appears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although specific configurations and arrangements are discussed, itshould be understood that this is done for illustrative purposes only.It is contemplated that other configurations and arrangements can beused without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. It is further contemplated that the present disclosure canalso be employed in a variety of other applications.

It is noted that references in the specification to “one embodiment,”“an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” “some embodiments,” etc.,indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Further,when a particular feature, structure or characteristic is described inconnection with an embodiment, it is contemplated that such feature,structure or characteristic may also be used in connection with otherembodiments whether or not explicitly described.

In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage incontext. For example, the term “one or more” as used herein, dependingat least in part upon context, may be used to describe any feature,structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may be used todescribe combinations of features, structures or characteristics in aplural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a,” “an,” or “the,” again, maybe understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a plural usage,depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term “basedon” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey an exclusiveset of factors and may, instead, allow for existence of additionalfactors not necessarily expressly described, again, depending at leastin part on context.

True wireless stereo (TWS) headphones (also known as untetheredheadphones) is a type of wireless headphones that remove the wiresbetween the left and right headphones. In some TWS headphones, a primarywireless headphone can simultaneously communicate with an audio sourceand a secondary wireless headphone. For example, the audio sourcetransmits data (music, audio, or data packets) to the primary wirelessheadphone using BLUETOOTH, and the primary wireless headphone thenforwards the data to the secondary wireless headphone. This approach cancause the high power consumption of the primary wireless headphone.Also, the physical structures of the human head between the left andright ears can affect the data transmission quality between the primaryand secondary wireless headphones, such as causing lagging and/or highlatency.

As will be disclosed in detail below, among other novel features, thewireless audio systems disclosed herein can achieve “true wirelessstereo” with improved data transmission quality and reduced headphonepower consumption. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, theprimary wireless headphone establishes a normal communication link withthe audio source to receive the audio data (e.g., stereo audio), whilethe secondary wireless headphone establishes a snoop communication linkwith the audio source to snoop communications on the normalcommunication link and receive the audio data from the audio source aswell. Having the secondary wireless headphone work in the snoop mode canreduce the power consumption of the primary wireless headphone becausethe primary wireless headphone no longer needs to forward the audio datato the secondary wireless headphone.

Moreover, one of the primary and secondary wireless headphones, whichsuccessfully receives the audio data from the audio source, can transmita first error correcting message including an error correcting code(ECC) based on the successfully-received audio data to the otherwireless headphone, or a second error correcting message including theaudio information with or without the ECC. The ECC can be used tocorrect the error in the audio data received by the other wirelessheadphone without re-transmitting the audio data. If the first errorcorrecting message fails to correct the error in the audio data receivedby the other wireless headphone, the second error correcting messageincluding the audio information may be transmitted from the wirelessheadphone that successfully receives the audio data to the otherwireless headphone to correct the error in the audio data received bythe other wireless headphone. As the audio information may notnecessarily need to be re-transmitted in the error correcting messagefor correcting error in the audio data received by the other wirelessheadphone (e.g., the error has been corrected using the first errorcorrecting message), the amount of data of transmitted for errorcorrecting can be reduced, and thus the system reliability andefficiency may be improved.

Additional novel features will be set forth in part in the descriptionwhich follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in theart upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings ormay be learned by production or operation of the examples. The novelfeatures of the present disclosure may be realized and attained bypractice or use of various aspects of the methodologies,instrumentalities, and combinations set forth in the detailed examplesdiscussed below.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless audiosystem 100 in accordance with an embodiment. Wireless audio system 100may include an audio source 102, a primary wireless headphone 104 (e.g.,the first wireless headphone), and a secondary wireless headphone 106(e.g., the second wireless headphone). Audio source 102 may be anysuitable device that can provide audio information including, forexample, music or voice in the digital or analog format. Audio source102 may include, but is not limited to, a handheld device (e.g., dumb orsmart phone, tablet, etc.), a wearable device (e.g., eyeglasses, wristwatch, etc.), a radio, a music player, an electronic musical instrument,an automobile control station, a gaming console, a television set, alaptop computer, a desktop computer, a netbook computer, a media center,a set-top box, a global positioning system (GPS), or any other suitabledevice. Primary wireless headphone 104 and secondary wireless headphone106 may be a pair of loudspeakers that can be worn on or around the headover a user's ears. Primary wireless headphone 104 and secondarywireless headphone 106 may be any electroacoustic transducers thatconvert an electrical signal (e.g., representing the audio informationprovided by audio source 102) to a corresponding sound. In someembodiments, each primary wireless headphone 104 and secondary wirelessheadphone 106 may be an earbud (also known as earpiece) that can pluginto the user's ear canal. In some embodiments, primary wirelessheadphone 104 and secondary wireless headphone 106 may be TWSheadphones, which are individual units that are not physically held by aband over the head and/or electrically connected by a cord. Primarywireless headphone 104 and/or secondary wireless headphone 106 may becombined with a microphone to form a headset according to someembodiments. It is understood that although in FIG. 1A, wireless audiosystem 100 includes both audio source 102 and the pair of primary andsecondary wireless headphones 104 and 106, in some embodiments, wirelessaudio system 100 may include only primary wireless headphone 104 andsecondary wireless headphone 106.

As shown in FIG. 1A, bidirectional communications may be establishedbetween audio source 102 and primary wireless headphone 104 and betweenaudio source 102 and secondary wireless headphone 106. In someembodiments, a normal communication link may be established betweenaudio source 102 and primary wireless headphone 104 using a short-rangewireless communication (e.g., the BLUETOOTH communication or WiFicommunication). That is, primary wireless headphone 104 may work in thenormal mode. In the normal mode, primary wireless headphone 104 mayreceive audio information (e.g., in data packets) transmitted by acarrier wave from audio source 102 via the normal communication link. Insome embodiments, audio information may be a stream of audio stereoinformation in the form of compressed or uncompressed stereo samples forfirst and second audio channels, such as left-channel audio informationand right-channel audio information or the like. The normalcommunication link may be bidirectional such that primary wirelessheadphone 104 may transmit messages back to audio source 102 in responseto the reception of the audio information from audio source 102. Asdescribed below in detail, in some embodiments, primary wirelessheadphone 104 may transmit acknowledgement (ACK) messages to audiosource 102 in response to successfully receiving the audio informationfrom audio source 102 or transmit negative acknowledgement (NACK)messages to audio source 102 in response to not successfully receivingthe audio information from audio source 102. In some embodiments, theshort-range wireless communication between audio source 102 and primarywireless headphone 104 is a unidirectional communication link in whichprimary wireless headphone 104 receives the audio information from audiosource 102, but does not transmit data (e.g., ACK or NACK messages) backto audio source 102.

In some embodiments, a snoop communication link may be establishedbetween audio source 102 and secondary wireless headphone 106 using thesame short-range wireless communication between audio source 102 andprimary wireless headphone 104 (e.g., the BLUETOOTH or WiFi). That is,secondary wireless headphone 106 may work in the snoop mode in which theconnection with secondary wireless headphone 106 may not be known byaudio source 102. In the snoop mode, secondary wireless headphone 106may snoop (also known as “listen” or “eavesdrop”) the communicationsbetween audio source 102 and primary wireless headphone 104 on thenormal communication link. By snooping the communications between audiosource 102 and primary wireless headphone 104, secondary wirelessheadphone 106 may also receive the audio information (e.g., in datapackets) transmitted by the carrier wave from audio source 102 via thesnoop communication link. The snoop communication link may bebidirectional such that secondary wireless headphone 106 may transmitmessages back to audio source 102 in response to the reception of theaudio information from audio source 102. As described below in detail,the messages transmitted by secondary wireless headphone 106 mayinclude, for example, ACK messages and NACK messages.

In some embodiments, audio information may be transmitted by audiosource 102 according to the BLUETOOTH protocol at the working radiofrequency (RF) band between 2,402 MHz and 2,480 MHz or between 2,400 MHzand 2,483.5 MHz (referred to herein as “2.4 GHz”). BLUETOOTH is awireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances,and the BLUETOOTH protocol is one example of short-range wirelesscommunication protocols. In one example, audio source 102 may apply theadvanced audio distribution profile (A2DP) of the BLUETOOTH protocol fortransmitting the audio information. For example, based on the A2DP, aBLUETOOTH audio streaming of music or voice may be streamed from audiosource 102 to primary and secondary wireless headphones 104 and 106 overBLUETOOTH connections. In some embodiments, audio information may betransmitted by audio source 102 according to the WiFi protocol at theworking RF band of 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. WiFi is a wireless technology forwireless local area networking based on the IEEE 802.11 standards, andthe WiFi protocol (also known as the 802.11 protocol) is another exampleof short-range wireless communication protocols. It is understood thatthe transmission of the audio information by audio source 102 may beusing any other suitable short-range wireless communication besidesBLUETOOTH and WiFi.

As shown in FIG. 1A, to enable secondary wireless headphone 106 work inthe snoop mode, primary wireless headphone 104 may transmit, tosecondary wireless headphone 106, communication parameters associatedwith the normal communication link between audio source 102 and primarywireless headphone 104. The communication parameters may include, butare not limited to, the address of audio source 102 (e.g., the IPaddress or media access control (MAC) address) and the encryptionparameters between audio source 102 and primary wireless headphone 104.The transmission of the communication parameters may be carried on by ashort-range wireless communication that is the same type as that fortransmitting the audio information by audio source 102 or a differenttype of short-range wireless communication. For example, the short-rangewireless communication may be BLUETOOTH communication or WiFicommunication. In some embodiments, the transmission of thecommunication parameters may be at a frequency lower than the frequencyused for transmitting the audio information by audio source 102 (e.g.,2.4 GHz). For example, near-field magnetic induction (NFMI)communication may be used for transmitting the communication parameters.NFMI communication is a short-range wireless communication by coupling atight, low-power, non-propagating magnetic field between devices. NFMIcommunication can contain transmission energy within the localizedmagnetic field, which does not radiate into free space. In someembodiments, the carrier wave frequency for NFMI communication isbetween about 5 MHz and about 50 MHz (e.g., between 5 MHz and 50 MHz),such as between 5 MHz and 40 MHz, between 5 MHz and 30 MHz, between 5MHz and 20 MHz, between 5 MHz and 10 MHz, between 15 MHz and 50 MHz,between 25 MHz and 50 MHz, between 35 MHz and 50 MHz, and between 45 MHzand 50 MHz. In some embodiments, the carrier wave frequency is about 10MHz (e.g., 10 MHz) or about 13.56 MHz (e.g., 13.56 MHz).

Upon receiving the communication parameters from primary wirelessheadphone 104, secondary wireless headphone 106 can establish the snoopcommunication link with audio source 102 based on the communicationparameters. For example, secondary wireless headphone 106 may pretend tobe primary wireless headphone 104 so that audio source 102 does notrecognize secondary wireless headphone 106 as a newly-connected deviceand thus, will not disconnect and reconnect with secondary wirelessheadphone 106.

In response to successfully receiving the audio information (e.g., aBLUETOOTH audio data packet) from audio source 102, primary wirelessheadphone 104 may be configured to generate an error correcting code(ECC) based on the audio information (e.g., by coding the payload of theBLUETOOTH audio data packet). Primary wireless headphone 104 then maytransmit a first error correcting message (ECC MSG) including the ECC tosecondary wireless headphone 106. The ECC may include, but not limitedto, Reed-Solomon (RS) code, Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) code, etc.In case secondary wireless headphone 106 does not successfully receivethe audio information from audio source 102 (e.g., error found in thepayload of a BLUETOOTH audio data packet), the ECC contained in thefirst error correcting message from primary wireless headphone 104 maybe used by secondary wireless headphone 106 to correct the audioinformation (e.g., the error found in the payload of the BLUETOOTH audiodata packet). Also, the transmission of the first error correctingmessage with an ECC can also serve as an ACK message indicative of thesuccessful reception of the audio information by primary wirelessheadphone 104. Thus, when secondary wireless headphone 106 successfullyreceives the audio information from audio source 102 based on the ECCfrom primary wireless headphone 104, secondary wireless headphone 106may transmit an ACK message to audio source 102 indicative of thesuccessful receptions of the audio information by both primary andsecondary wireless headphones 104 and 106, no matter whether primarywireless headphone 104 send another ACK to audio source 102 or not.

In some embodiments, in response to secondary wireless headphone 106attempts to correct the audio information received from audio source 102based on the first error correcting message, but fails to do so (e.g.,error found in the header of a BLUETOOTH audio data packet), primarywireless headphone 104 may transmit a second error correcting messageincluding the audio information to secondary wireless headphone 106. Theaudio information contained in second error correcting message fromprimary wireless headphone 104 may be used by secondary wirelessheadphone 106 to correct the audio information. When secondary wirelessheadphone 106 successfully receives the audio information from audiosource 102 based on the audio information included in the second errorcorrecting message from primary wireless headphone 104, secondarywireless headphone 106 may still transmit an ACK message to audio source102 indicative of the successful receptions of the audio information byboth primary and secondary wireless headphones 104 and 106, no matterwhether primary wireless headphone 104 send another ACK to audio source102 or not. It is contemplated that, in addition to the audioinformation, the second error correcting message may additionallyinclude the same ECC as included in the first error correcting message.

As described below in detail, in some embodiments, secondary wirelessheadphone 106 may transmit an ACK or a NACK to primary wirelessheadphone 104 indicating whether the audio information is receivedcorrectly, and whether the error correcting message (e.g., the firsterror correcting message) is received correctly.

It is understood that secondary wireless headphone 106 may successfullyreceive the audio information from audio source 102 based on the ECC orthe audio information included in the second error correcting message,either when secondary wireless headphone 106 successfully receives theaudio information from audio source 102 without error at the first place(i.e., without the need of correction using the ECC or audio informationincluded in the second error correcting message) or when secondarywireless headphone 106 successfully corrects the audio information fromaudio source 102 based on the first or the second error correctingmessage. In whichever case, secondary wireless headphone 106 isconsidered as “successfully receiving the audio information from audiosource 102 based on the ECC.”

The transmission of the first or the second error correcting message maybe carried on by a short-range wireless communication that is the sametype as that for transmitting the audio information by audio source 102or a different type of short-range wireless communication. For example,the short-range wireless communication for transmitting the errorcorrecting message may be BLUETOOTH communication or WiFi communication.The WiFi communication may be based on any suitable standards, such asIEEE 802.11b, 802.11d, 802.11g, etc. In some embodiments, thetransmission of the communication parameters may be at a frequency lowerthan the frequency used for transmitting the audio information by audiosource 102 (e.g., 2.4 GHz). For example, NFMI communication may be usedfor transmitting the error correcting message. In some embodiments, thecarrier wave frequency for NFMI communication is between about 5 MHz andabout 50 MHz (e.g., between 5 MHz and 50 MHz), such as between 5 MHz and40 MHz, between 5 MHz and 30 MHz, between 5 MHz and 20 MHz, between 5MHz and 10 MHz, between 15 MHz and 50 MHz, between 25 MHz and 50 MHz,between 35 MHz and 50 MHz, and between 45 MHz and 50 MHz. In someembodiments, the carrier wave frequency is about 10 MHz (e.g., 10 MHz)or about 13.56 MHz (e.g., 13.56 MHz). In some embodiments in which WiFicommunication or NFMI communication is used between primary wirelessheadphone 104 and secondary wireless headphone 106, instead oftransmitting the error correcting messages, primary wireless headphone104 transmits the entire audio information (e.g., the entire BLUETOOTHaudio data packets) to secondary wireless headphone 106.

In some embodiments, the reception of the audio information from audiosource 102 is not successful at primary wireless headphone 104, primarywireless headphone 104 may transmit a NACK message to audio source 102.In some embodiments, in response to not successfully receiving the audioinformation from audio source 102, primary wireless headphone 104 maynot transmit the NACK message to audio source 102, but instead,transmitting a pseudo error correcting message without the ECC tosecondary wireless headphone 106 or not transmitting any message tosecondary wireless headphone 106. As to secondary wireless headphone106, in response to at least one of (i) not successfully receiving theaudio information from audio source 102 based on the ECC (indicative ofthe unsuccessful reception of the audio source by secondary wirelessheadphone 106 even with the ECC), or (ii) not successfully receiving theerror correcting message including the ECC from primary wirelessheadphone 104 (indicative of the unsuccessful reception of the audiosource by primary wireless headphone 104), secondary wireless headphone106 may transmit a NACK message to audio source 102. It is understoodthat secondary wireless headphone 106 may not successfully receive theaudio information from audio source 102 even after the correction basedon the ECC, i.e., the ECC correction at secondary wireless headphone 106fails.

In some embodiments, instead of generating the ECC and transmitting theerror correcting message including the ECC by primary wireless headphone104, secondary wireless headphone 106 may generate an ECC based on theaudio information in response to successfully receiving the audioinformation from audio source 102 and then transmit a first errorcorrecting message including the ECC or a second error correctingmessage including the audio information to primary wireless headphone104. Primary wireless headphone 104 then may receive the first or seconderror correcting message including the ECC or the audio information fromsecondary wireless headphone 106 and in response to successfullyreceiving the audio information from audio source 102 based on the ECCor the audio information included in the second error correctingmessage, transmit an ACK message to audio source 102.

That is, in implementing the features related to error correctingmessage (e.g., the first error correcting message and/or the seconderror correcting message) disclosed herein, the roles of primary andsecondary wireless headphones can be switched. In other words, eitherprimary or secondary wireless headphone 104 or 106 can be the partygenerating and transmitting the ECC and/or the audio information (ECCtransmitting headphone), and either primary or secondary wirelessheadphone 104 or 106 can be the party utilizing the ECC and/or the audioinformation transmitted from the ECC transmitting headphone forcorrecting the audio information and transmitting the ACK message toaudio source 102 (ECC receiving headphone).

In some embodiments, the ECC transmitting headphone (e.g., the firstwireless headphone) and the ECC receiving headphone (e.g., the secondwireless headphone) can be dynamically switched based on the signalquality of each of the ECC transmitting headphone and ECC receivingheadphone. In some embodiments, the headphone with better signal qualityis used as ECC transmitting headphone. That is, the signal quality ofthe ECC transmitting headphone may be better than the signal quality ofthe ECC receiving headphone. As a result, the likelihood that the ECCtransmitting headphone can successfully receive the audio informationfrom audio source 102 may be increased, thereby transmitting more errorcorrecting messages including the ECC and/or the audio information. Withmore error correcting messages including the ECC and/or the audioinformation, the ECC receiving headphone may correct more audioinformation with errors, thereby reducing the numbers of re-transmissionand improving the system reliability. Also, as the headphone with bettersignal quality is used as ECC receiving headphone, as a result, thelikelihood that audio source 102 can successfully receive the ACK and/orNACK messages from the ECC receiving headphone may be increased.

In some embodiments, the ECC transmitting headphone will transmit thefirst error correcting message to the ECC receiving headphone inresponse to successfully receiving the audio information from audiosource 102. That is being said, no matter whether the ECC receivingheadphone receives the audio information correctly or not, the ECCtransmitting headphone will transmit the first error correcting messageto the ECC receiving headphone anyway.

In some other embodiments, the ECC transmitting headphone will transmitthe first error correcting message including ECC but not the audioinformation, and second error correcting message including the audioinformation but may or may not including the ECC or transmit no errorcorrecting message to the ECC receiving headphone in response to the ECCtransmitting headphone receiving one of a first ACK message, a firstNACK message or a second NACK message from the ECC receiving headphone.For example, the ECC transmitting headphone may transmit the first errorcorrecting message in response to receiving the first NACK message. TheECC transmitting headphone may transmit the second error correctingmessage in response to receiving the second NACK message, and maytransmit no error correcting message in response to receiving the firstACK message.

In some embodiments, the ECC receiving headphone may generate andtransmit at least one of a first ACK message, a first NACK message or asecond NACK message to the ECC transmitting headphone in response toreceiving the audio information from audio source 102 correctly,receiving the correct header but not the correct payload of the audioinformation or without the correct header of the audio information, Forexample, The ECC receiving headphone may generate and transmit the firstACK message if it receives the audio information correctly. The ECCreceiving headphone may generate and transmit the first NACK message ifit receives the correct header but not the correct payload of the audioinformation. And the ECC receiving headphone may generate and transmitthe second NACK message if it does not receive the correct header of theaudio information.

In some embodiments, the audio information is received by both primarywireless headphone 104 and second wireless headphone 106 from audiosource 102 using the first type of short-range wireless communication.Both primary wireless headphone 104 and second wireless headphone 106determines if it receives the audio information correctly. If thedetermining headphone determines that it correctly receives the audioinformation, a first ACK message indicating the determining headphonereceives both the header and the payload of the audio informationcorrectly will be transmitted to the other headphone. The determiningheadphone may further determine if it receives the header of the audioinformation correctly in response to the determining headphonedetermines that it does not correctly receive the audio information. Ifthe determining headphone determines it receives the header of the audioinformation correctly, a first NACK message indicating the determiningheadphone receives the header, but not the payload of the audioinformation correctly is generated and transmitted to the otherheadphone.

In response to the determining headphone receives the header, but notthe payload of the audio information correctly, a first error correctingmessage including the ECC generated by coding a payload of the audiodata packet of the audio information but not the audio information istransmitted by the determining headphone in response to the determiningheadphone receives the header, but not the payload, of the audioinformation correctly. A second NACK message indicating the determiningheadphone does not receive the header nor the payload of the audioinformation correctly is generated and transmitted to the otherheadphone if the determining headphone determines it does not receivethe header of the audio information correctly. A second error correctingmessage including the audio information is transmitted by thedetermining headphone in response to the other headphone receives thesecond NACK. In some embodiments, the second error correcting messagemay additionally include the ECC generated by coding a payload of theaudio data packet.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary wireless audio system100 in accordance with another embodiment. The same functions of audiosource 102, primary wireless headphone 104, and secondary wirelessheadphone 106 that have been described above with respect to FIG. 1Awill not be repeated with respect to FIG. 1B. Different from the exampleof FIG. 1A, in this example, when primary wireless headphone 104successfully receives part of the audio information (e.g., the header ofa BLUETOOTH audio data packet) but fails to correctly receive otherparts of the audio information (e.g., the payload of the BLUETOOTH audiodata packet), primary wireless headphone 104 may transmit a first errorcorrecting message (ECC MSG 1) without an ECC to secondary wirelessheadphone 106. In this situation, when secondary wireless headphone 106successfully receives the audio information from audio source 102 aswell as the first error correcting message without the ECC from primarywireless headphone 104, secondary wireless headphone 106 may generate anECC based on the audio information and transmit a second errorcorrecting message (ECC MSG 2) including the ECC to primary wirelessheadphone 104. Primary wireless headphone 104 then may correct the partof the audio information that fails to be correctly received without theneed of re-transmission.

In some embodiments, the ECC transmitting headphone that transmits thefirst error correcting message and the ECC receiving headphone thatreceives the first error correcting message can be switched betweenprimary and secondary wireless headphones 104 and 106.

In some embodiments, ECC may be encoded by a wireless headphone (e.g.,primary wireless headphone 104 and/or secondary wireless headphone 106)that correctly receives the audio information from audio source 102using the correctly received audio information (e.g., audio 1 in FIG.1A). For example, primary wireless headphone 104 and secondary wirelessheadphone 106 may both receive the same audio information from audiosource 102. One or both of primary and secondary wireless headphone 104and 106 may correctly receive the audio information. The correctlyreceiving wireless headphone may generate the first ECC by encoding thecorrectly received audio information (e.g., using an encoder) and maytransmit the first ECC to the other wireless headphone. The otherwireless headphone may correct the wrongly received audio information(e.g., audio 2 in FIG. 1A which has errors in the audio data packet) bydecoding the first ECC and the wrongly received audio information (e.g.,using a decoder). In some embodiments, if the wrongly received audioinformation cannot be corrected by the first ECC, a second ECC messagemay be generated and transmitted by the correctly receiving wirelessheadphone. In some embodiments, the second ECC message may include thecorrectly received audio information but not the first ECC. In someother embodiments, the second ECC message may include both the correctlyreceived audio information and the first ECC.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of exemplary wireless audio system100 in FIGS. 1A-1B in accordance with an embodiment. Audio source 102 inthis example includes an antenna 202, a radio-frequency (RF) module 204and a physical layer module 206. It is understood that additionalmodule(s) may be included in audio source 102, either in the sameintegrated circuit (IC) chip in which RF module 204 and physical layermodule 206 are formed or in a separate IC chip.

Antenna 202 may include an array of conductors for transmitting andreceiving radio waves at one or more RF bands corresponding to RF module204. For example, antenna 202 may transmit audio information modulatedby a carrier wave using RF module 204. As described above, the audioinformation may be any music and/or voice information provided by audiosource 102. For example, the audio information may be a stream of audiostereo information in the form of compressed or uncompressed stereosamples for first and second audio channels, such as left-channel audioinformation and right-channel audio information or the like. In someembodiments, the audio information may be mono audio information in asingle audio channel or audio information in more than two separateaudio channels (e.g., left, central, and right channels). Antenna 202may also receive the messages modulated by a carrier wave. For example,the messages may be any messages used for acknowledging the reception ofthe audio information by primary wireless headphone 104 or secondarywireless headphone 106, such as ACK and NACK messages.

RF module 204 and physical layer module 206 may be in the same IC chipthat implements a short-range wireless communication protocol, such asthe BLUETOOTH protocol or WiFi protocol. RF module 204 may be configuredto modulate the audio information using the carrier wave at a frequency,for example, at 2.4 GHz for BLUETOOTH or WiFi communication, andtransmit the audio information at the frequency via antenna 202. RFmodule 204 may be further configured to receive and demodulate themessages and/or the audio information (e.g., the voice informationduring voice calls) from the carrier wave at the same frequency, forexample, at 2.4 GHz. Physical layer module 206 may be configured togenerate the physical link (baseband) between audio source 102 andprimary wireless headphone 104 (and secondary wireless headphone 106even though audio source 102 may not be aware of the connection withsecondary wireless headphone 106) according to the short-range wirelesscommunication protocol. For example, physical layer module 206 maygenerate baseband packets (e.g., BLUETOOTH packets) based on the musicand/or voice data (payload) and perform error correction using any knownmethods, such as forward error correction (FEC) and automatic repeatrequest (ARQ).

In some embodiments, the transmission of the audio information may occurat the audio data packet level in time slots. For example, according tothe standard BLUETOOTH protocol, the physical channel of the BLUETOOTHconnection is divided into time slots, each of which has the sameduration (e.g., 625 μs). RF module 204 in conjunction with antenna 202may transmit an audio data packet (N) in a time slot (N). Based on thereceptions of the audio data packet (N) in the time slot (N) at primarywireless headphone 104 and secondary wireless headphone 106, in thesubsequent time slot (N+1), RF module 204 in conjunction with antenna202 may receive a message from primary wireless headphone 104 orsecondary wireless headphone 106 alone, or messages from both primarywireless headphone 104 and secondary wireless headphone 106, which aregenerated in response to the reception status of the audio data packet(N) in the time slot (N). It is understood that additional components,although not shown in FIG. 2, may be included in audio source 102.

Primary wireless headphone 104 in this example may include a wirelesstransceiver (primary wireless transceiver) configured to receive theaudio information transmitted by audio source 102 and transmit orreceive error correcting messages (with or without an ECC and/or theaudio information) in response to the reception of the audio informationto audio source 102. The wireless transceiver may be further configuredto transmit the communication parameters to secondary wireless headphone106. Primary wireless headphone 104 may include other components, suchas an enclosure, speakers, and a microphone (not shown). Primarywireless transceiver may include an antenna 208, a first RF module 210,a second RF module 212, a physical layer module 214, a MAC layer module216, a host controller interface (HCI) 218, and a control module 220.Some or all of the modules mentioned above may be integrated in the sameIC chip to reduce the chip size and/or power consumption. Primarywireless headphone 104 may present at least part of the audioinformation received from audio source 102 to the user via one of theuser's ear. For example, the speaker of primary wireless headphone 104may play music and/or voice based on the entire audio information or oneaudio channel of the audio information.

Antenna 208 may include an array of conductors for transmitting andreceiving radio waves at two or more RF bands corresponding to first RFmodule 210 and second RF module 212. First RF module 210 may beconfigured to receive, from audio source 102, audio information andtransmit, to audio source 102, messages (e.g., ACK and NACK messages)via antenna 208. Second RF module 212 may be configured to transmit, tosecondary wireless headphone 106, the communication parameters and errorcorrecting messages (when primary wireless headphone 104 works as theECC transmitting headphone) via antenna 208. In some embodiments, secondRF module 212 may be further configured to receive, from secondarywireless headphone 106, error correcting messages (when primary wirelessheadphone 104 works as the ECC receiving headphone) via antenna 208.

In some embodiments, the first frequency used for the communicationsbetween audio source 102 and primary wireless headphone 104 is a “high”RF, such as 2.4 GHz used in BLUETOOTH or WiFi communication; the secondfrequency used for the communications between primary wireless headphone104 and secondary wireless headphone 106 is a “low” RF, such as between5 MHz and 50 MHz for NFMI communication. Both first RF module 210 andsecond RF module 212 may implement substantially the same short-rangewireless communication protocol for short-range wireless communicationsat different RF bands. For example, first RF module 210 may implement afirst short-range wireless communication protocol (e.g., the BLUETOOTHprotocol or WiFi protocol), and second RF module 212 may implement asecond short-range wireless communication protocol amended from thefirst short-range wireless communication protocol (e.g., the amendedBLUETOOTH or amended WiFi protocol). The second short-range wirelesscommunication protocol may be substantially the same as the firstshort-range wireless communication protocol except for the carrier wavefrequency (and any specification related to the carrier wave frequency).

In some embodiments, first RF module 210 may operate at about 2.4 GHz(e.g., 2.4 GHz). In some embodiments, second RF module 212 may operatebetween about 5 MHz (e.g., 5 MHz) and about 50 MHz (e.g., 50 MHz) forNFMI communication. For example, second RF module 212 may operate atabout 10 MHz (e.g., 10 MHz). In some embodiments, second RF module 212may implement the frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) technique,such that the second frequency (low RF) may include a plurality offrequencies based on FHSS. For example, second RF module 212 mayimplement the amended BLUETOOTH protocol and use the FHSS specificationin the amended BLUETOOTH protocol. FHSS can further reduce signalinterference.

Physical layer module 214 may be configured to generate the physicallinks (baseband) between audio source 102 and primary wireless headphone104 according to the short-range wireless communication protocol and theamended short-range wireless communication protocol used by first RFmodule 210 and second RF module 212, respectively. For example, physicallayer module 214 may generate baseband packets (e.g., BLUETOOTH packets)based on the music and/or voice data (payload) and perform errorcorrection using any known methods, such as FEC and ARQ. MAC layermodule 216 may be configured to generate the logical data channel linksbetween audio source 102 and primary wireless headphone 104 according tothe short-range wireless communication protocol and between primarywireless headphone 104 and secondary wireless headphone 106 according tothe amended short-range wireless communication protocol used by first RFmodule 210 and second RF module 212, respectively. For example, MAClayer module 216 may generate link control channel, link managerchannel, user asynchronous channel, user isochronous channel, and usersynchronous channel based on the BLUETOOTH protocol (and the amendedBLUETOOTH protocol). HCI 218 may be configured to provide a commoninterface to physical layer module 214 and MAC layer module 216 andaccess to hardware status and control registers. For example, whenimplementing the BLUETOOTH protocol (and the amended BLUETOOTHprotocol), HCI 218 may provide a uniform method of accessing theBLUETOOTH baseband capabilities.

In some embodiments, the error correction messages are transmitted basedon a standard BLUETOOTH protocol in network layers above a physicallayer, for example, by MAC layer module 216 and HCI 218, and aretransmitted based on an amended BLUETOOTH protocol in the physicallayer, for example, by physical layer module 214. For example, the errorcorrecting messages can be transmitted at a higher symbol rate than thestandard BLUETOOTH protocol in the physical layer, for example, byphysical layer module 214 according to the amended BLUETOOTH protocol.In some embodiments, the symbol rate for transmitting the errorcorrecting messages in the physical layer is 2 M/s, which is higher thanthe standard BLUETOOTH symbol rate of 1 M/s. By increasing the symbolrate in the physical layer for the error correcting messages, more ECCscan be transmitted, thereby improving the error correction capability.

As described above, primary wireless headphone 104 can either an ECCtransmitting headphone or an ECC receiving headphone. In someembodiments, control module 220 may control primary wireless headphone104 to switch between the ECC transmitting headphone and the ECCreceiving headphone. In some embodiments, control module 220 maydetermine whether to switch the ECC headphone mode of primary wirelessheadphone 104 based on one or more parameters associated with primarywireless headphone 104 and/or secondary wireless headphone 106, such assignal quality. In one example, control module 220 may determine whetherthe signal quality (e.g., signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or received signalstrength indicator (RSSI)) is above a threshold and cause primarywireless headphone 104 to switch to a different ECC headphone mode. Thatis, in some embodiments, the wireless headphone with the relatively poorsignal quality may be used as the ECC transmitting headphone, while thewireless headphone with the relatively good signal quality may be usedas the ECC receiving headphone, so that the ACK/NACK messagestransmitted by the ECC receiving headphone can be more easily receivedby audio source 102. In some embodiments, the wireless headphone withthe relatively poor signal quality may be used as the ECC receivingheadphone, while the wireless headphone with the relatively good signalquality may be used as the ECC transmitting headphone, so that moreerror correcting messages with ECCs can be generated to reduce the timesof re-transmission.

Control module 220 may be further configured to control the generationof the ECC based on the successfully received audio information whenprimary wireless headphone 104 is working as an ECC transmittingheadphone or control the correction of the audio information based onthe received ECC when primary wireless headphone 104 is working as anECC receiving headphone. When working as the ECC receiving headphone,control module 220 may be further configured to determine whether totransmit an ACK message or a NACK message to audio source 102 dependingon various factors, including (1) whether an error correcting message isreceived from secondary wireless headphone 106 (the ECC transmittingheadphone), (2) whether the received error correcting message includesan ECC, (3) whether the audio information received by primary wirelessheadphone 104 needs correction, and (4) whether the correction of theaudio information based on the ECC is successful.

Secondary wireless headphone 106 in this example may include a wirelesstransceiver (secondary wireless transceiver) configured to receive(snoop) the audio information transmitted by audio source 102 andtransmit or receive error correcting messages (with or without an ECC)in response to the reception of the audio information to audio source102. The wireless transceiver may be further configured to receive thecommunication parameters from primary wireless headphone 104. Secondarywireless headphone 106 may include other components, such as anenclosure, speakers, and a microphone (not shown). Secondary wirelesstransceiver may include an antenna 222, a first RF module 224, a secondRF module 226, a physical layer module 228, a MAC layer module 230, anHCI 232, and a control module 234. Some or all of the modules mentionedabove may be integrated in the same IC chip to reduce the chip sizeand/or power consumption. Secondary wireless headphone 106 may presentat least part of the audio information to the user via one of the user'sear. For example, the speaker of secondary wireless headphone 106 mayplay music and/or voice based on the audio information or one audiochannel of the audio information.

In this example, secondary wireless headphone 106 has the same hardwarestructures as primary wireless headphone 104. The functions of eachmodule mentioned above in secondary wireless headphone 106 are the sameas the counterparts in primary wireless headphone 104 and thus, will notbe repeated. Different from primary wireless headphone 104, secondarywireless headphone 106 in this example works in the snoop mode, so thataudio source 102 may not recognize the connection with secondarywireless headphone 106. To enable secondary wireless headphone 106 towork in the snoop mode, in some embodiments, second RF module 212 ofprimary wireless headphone 104 may transmit, to second RF module 226 ofsecondary wireless headphone 106, one or more communication parametersassociated with the short-range wireless communication protocol usedbetween audio source 102 and primary wireless headphone 104. Thecommunication parameters may include any parameters necessary forenabling secondary wireless headphone 106 to snoop the communicationsbetween audio source 102 and primary wireless headphone 104, such as theaddress of audio source 102 (e.g., the IP address or MAC address) andthe encryption parameters used between audio source 102 and primarywireless headphone 104.

As described above, similar to control module 220 of primary wirelessheadphone 104, control module 234 of secondary wireless headphone 106may control secondary wireless headphone 106 to switch between the ECCtransmitting headphone and the ECC receiving headphone. The switch maybe determined based on one or more parameters, such as the relativesignal quality between primary wireless headphone 104 and secondarywireless headphone 106. For example, both control modules 220 and 234may work together to switch the ECC headphone modes of primary wirelessheadphone 104 and secondary wireless headphone 106 to improve theoverall performance of the pair of wireless headphones 104 and 106 asdescribed above in detail.

Control module 234 may be further configured to control the generationof the ECC based on the successfully received audio information whensecondary wireless headphone 106 is working as an ECC transmittingheadphone or control the correction of the audio information based onthe received ECC when secondary wireless headphone 106 is working as anECC receiving headphone. When working as the ECC receiving headphone,control module 234 may be further configured to determine whether totransmit an ACK message or a NACK message to audio source 102 dependingon various factors, including (1) whether an error correcting message isreceived from primary wireless headphone 104 (the ECC transmittingheadphone), (2) whether the received error correcting message includesan ECC, (3) whether the audio information received by secondary wirelessheadphone 106 needs correction, and (4) whether the correction of theaudio information based on the ECC is successful.

Although in FIG. 2, the same physical layer module, MAC layer module,and HCI are used for both first and second RF modules 210 and 212 or 224and 226, it is understood that in some embodiments, each of first andsecond RF modules 210 and 212 or 224 and 226 may have its own physicallayer module, MAC layer module, and/or HCI. In other words, each ofprimary and secondary wireless headphones 104 and 106 may include twophysical layer modules, two MAC layer modules, and/or two HCIs. As aresult, two different types of short-range wireless communications canbe implemented by each of primary and secondary wireless headphones 104and 106. In some embodiments, second RF modules 212 and 226 and theirrespective physical layer modules, MAC layers modules, and/or HCIs areused to implement WiFi communication or NFMI communication betweenprimary and secondary wireless headphones 104 and 106 for transmittingand receiving error correcting messages.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary wireless headphone 104or 106 in accordance with an embodiment. In this example, each ofprimary wireless headphone 104 and secondary wireless headphone 106includes an RF front-end 302, an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 304,a demodulation module 306, a clock frequency module 308, a phase-lockedloop (PLL) 310, a clock oscillator 312, a frequency divider 314, and atiming module 316. RF front-end 302 may be operatively coupled to anantenna and configured to receive the RF signals, such as audio signalsrepresenting the audio information described above in detail. RFfront-end 302 may include an antenna switch, low-noise amplifier (LNA),power amplifier (PA), filter, etc. A/D converter 304 may be operativelycoupled to RF front-end 302 and configured to convert an audio signalfrom an analog signal to a digital signal and provide the digital audiosignal to demodulation module 306 that is operatively coupled to A/Dconverter 304. The A/D conversion may be performed by A/D converter 304based on an A/D sampling rate determined by frequency divider 314.

In some embodiments, primary wireless headphone 104 and secondarywireless headphone 106 may not communicate directly except fortransmitting the communication parameters and error correction messagesas described above. Primary wireless headphone 104 and secondarywireless headphone 106 may be synchronized via their communications withaudio source 102. The local clocks of each of primary wireless headphone104 and secondary wireless headphone 106 may be synchronized with theremote clock of audio source 102 and thus, are synchronized with oneanother. By indirectly synchronizing primary wireless headphone 104 andsecondary wireless headphone 106 via audio source 102, the sound can besimultaneously played by both primary wireless headphone 104 andsecondary wireless headphone 106.

FIGS. 4A-4G are timing diagrams of exemplary wireless audio systems inaccordance with various embodiments. As described above, errorcorrecting messages may be transmitted from an ECC transmittingheadphone to an ECC receiving headphone. As described above, in someembodiments, each of the time slots (e.g., N and N+1) has the sameduration, for example, 625 μs for BLUETOOTH communication. As shown inFIG. 4A, in a first time slot (N), the audio source transmits an audiodata packet (e.g., a BLUETOOTH audio data packet), and each of the ECCtransmitting and receiving headphones receives the audio data packet. Inthe same time slot (N), the ECC transmitting headphone transmits anerror correcting message including an ECC or a pseudo error correctingmessage without an ECC depending on whether the ECC transmittingheadphone successfully receives the audio data packet in time slot (N).In the same time slot (N), the ECC receiving headphone receives theerror correcting message or pseudo error correcting message from the ECCtransmitting headphone.

In a second time slot (N+1) immediately subsequent to the first timeslot (N), the ECC receiving headphone may transmit an ACK message or aNACK message to the audio source depending on whether it successfullyreceives the audio data packet based on the error correcting message inthe first time slot (N). In a first situation, if in the first time slot(N), the ECC receiving headphone receives the error correcting messageincluding the ECC from the ECC transmitting headphone and corrects theerror in the audio data packet based on the ECC (i.e., successfullyreceiving the audio data packet after the correction), then in thesecond time slot (N+1), the ECC receiving headphone transmits an ACKmessage to the audio source. In a second situation, if in the first timeslot (N), the ECC receiving headphone receives the error correctingmessage including the ECC from the ECC transmitting headphone and doesnot find any error in the audio data packet (i.e., successfullyreceiving the audio data packet without the correction), then in thesecond time slot (N+1), the ECC receiving headphone transmits an ACKmessage to the audio source as well. In a third situation, if in thefirst time slot (N), the ECC receiving headphone receives the errorcorrecting message including the ECC from the ECC transmitting headphoneand fails to correct the error in the audio data packet using the ECC(i.e., not successfully receiving the audio data packet), then in thesecond time slot (N+1), the ECC receiving headphone transmits a NACKmessage to the audio source. In a fourth situation, if in the first timeslot (N), the ECC receiving headphone receives the pseudo errorcorrecting message without the ECC from the ECC transmitting headphoneor does not receive any error correcting message (i.e., not successfullyreceiving the error correcting message including the ECC), then in thesecond time slot (N+1), the ECC receiving headphone transmits a NACKmessage to the audio source as well.

In some embodiments, if in the first time slot (N), the ECC transmittingheadphone does not successfully receive the audio data packet from theaudio source, then in the second time slot (N+1), the ECC transmittingheadphone transmits an ACK message to the audio source as well.

It is understood that in FIG. 4A, each audio data packet is transmittedwithin a single time slot, e.g., the first time slot (N), for exampleaccording to BLUETOOTH Hands Free Profile (HFP). In the time slot inwhich the audio data packet is transmitted by the audio source, theaudio data packet and the error correcting message can share the sametime slot. For example, the audio data packet may be transmitted priorto the error correcting message in the same time slot. In someembodiments, each audio data packet can be transmitted within multipletime slots, for example according to BLUETOOTH A2DP.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the audio data packet is transmitted from the audiosource to each of the ECC transmitting and receiving headphones in Nslots, and the error correcting message or pseudo error correctingmessage is transmitted from the ECC transmitting headphone to the ECCreceiving headphone at the end of the last one of N slots (Nth slot).That is, at least part of the audio data packet is transmitted in thesame slot (Nth slot) as the error correcting message. Similar to theexample in FIG. 4A, in a time slot immediately subsequent to the lastone of N slots, e.g., (N+1)th slot, the ECC receiving headphonetransmits an ACK message or a NACK message to the audio source asdescribed above in detail.

It is further understood that in some embodiments, the error correctingmessage may be transmitted in more than one time slot. In the case inwhich the audio data packet and the error correcting message aretransmitted in N time slots (e.g., 3 or 5 time slots), the specificnumbers of time slots within the N time slots used for transmitting therespective audio data packet and the error correcting message are notlimited as long as the audio data packet is transmitted prior to theerror correcting message in the N time slots. Thus, the error correctingmessage may be transmitted in the last one or more time slots of the Ntime slots.

In some embodiments, another type of error correcting message without anECC may be transmitted from the ECC transmitting headphone to the ECCreceiving headphone when the ECC transmitting headphone successfullyreceives the header of the audio data packet but fails to correctlyreceive the payload of the audio data packet. FIGS. 5A and 5B aredepictions of exemplary BLUETOOTH audio data packets in accordance withan embodiment. Both BLUETOOTH audio data packets in FIGS. 5A and 5Binclude an access code, a header, and a payload in which the actualaudio information is coded.

FIG. 5B illustrates an enhanced data rate BLUETOOTH audio data packet,which further includes guard, synchronization, and trailer fields. Thepayload of the enhanced data rate BLUETOOTH audio data packet may betransmitted at a higher symbol rate than the standard BLUETOOTH symbolrate by using different modulation technique (DPSK) than the header(GFSK). As described above, the ECC can be coded based on the actualaudio information in the payload of a BLUETOOTH audio data packet usingRS code, BCH code, etc.

As described above, FIG. 6 is a depiction of an exemplary header of anACK or NACK message in accordance with an embodiment. In someembodiments, the header may include a logical transmission address,types of packets (a 4-bit code specifies which packet type is used), aflow control of packets, an acknowledge indication bit (ARQN a 1-bitacknowledgement used to inform the source of successful transfer ofpayload data), a SEQN that provides a sequential numbering scheme toorder the data packet stream and a header-error-check for checking theheader's integrity. In some embodiments, the ARQN is indicative ofwhether the packet is an ACK message or a NACK message. The packet is anACK message if ARQN is 1, as shown in FIG. 6. The packet is a NACKmessage if ARQN is 0.

As shown in FIG. 4C, in a first time slot (N), if the ECC transmittingsuccessfully receives the header of the audio data packet but fails tocorrectly receive the payload of the audio data packet, it transmits afirst error correcting message without an ECC to the ECC receivingheadphone. In the second time slot (N+1) immediate subsequent to thefirst time slot (N), the ECC receiving headphone transmits a seconderror correcting message including an ECC generated by coding thepayload of the audio data packet received by the ECC receiving headphonein the first time lot (N). By receiving the second error correctingmessage including the ECC, in the second time slot (N+1), the ECCtransmitting headphone may correct the errors in the payload of theaudio data packet. Similar to the example in FIG. 4A, in the second timeslot (N+1), the ECC receiving headphone transmits an ACK message or aNACK message to the audio source as described above in detail. It isunderstood that although FIG. 4C shows the transmission of an audio datapacket in a single time slot, the scheme can be expanded to situationsin which the audio data packet is transmitted over multiple time slots,for example according to BLUETOOTH A2DP as described above with respectto FIG. 4B.

FIGS. 4D and 4E are timing diagrams of an exemplary wireless audiosystem implemented in another schedule. In this example, the ECCtransmitting headphone, as opposed to the ECC receiving headphone,transmits the ACK or NACK message to the audio source. As shown in FIG.4D, in the first time slot (N), the ECC transmitting headphonesuccessfully receives the audio data packet and thus, transmits an errorcorrecting message including an ECC in the same time slot (N) to the ECCreceiving headphone. In the same time slot (N), the ECC receivingheadphone transmits a status message (STAT) to the ECC transmittingheadphone, which indicates whether the ECC receiving headphonesuccessfully receives the audio data packet based on the ECC receivedfrom the ECC transmitting headphone. For example, the status message mayindicate that the reception of the audio data packet at the ECCreceiving headphone is successfully either because no error is found atthe first place or the error has been corrected using the ECC. Thestatus message may indicate that reception of the audio data packet atthe ECC receiving headphone is unsuccessfully even after the correctionusing the ECC. In the immediately subsequent slot (N+1), the ECCtransmitting headphone transmits an ACK message or a NACK message to theaudio source based on the status message received from the ECC receivingheadphone.

As shown in FIG. 4E, in the first time slot (N), the ECC transmittingheadphone does not successfully receive the audio data packet and thus,transmits a status message indicative of such failure to the ECCreceiving headphone. In the same time slot (N), the ECC receivingheadphone may transmit an error correcting message including an ECC ifit successfully receives the audio data packet or a status messageindicative of its failure to successfully receive the audio data packetto the ECC transmitting headphone. If the ECC transmitting headphonereceives the error correcting message including the ECC from the ECCreceiving headphone in the first time slot (N) and corrects the audiodata packet based on the ECC, then in the immediate subsequent time slot(N+1), the ECC transmitting headphone transmits an ACK message to theaudio source. If the ECC transmitting headphone receives the errorcorrecting message including the ECC but fails to correctly correct theaudio data packet based on the ECC or if the ECC transmitting headphonereceives the status message indicative of the ECC receiving headphone'sfailure to successfully receive the audio data packet, then in theimmediate subsequent time slot (N+1), the ECC transmitting headphonetransmits a NACK message to the audio source.

It is understood that although FIGS. 4D and 4E show the transmission ofan audio data packet in a single time slot, the scheme can be expandedto situations in which the audio data packet is transmitted overmultiple time slots, for example according to BLUETOOTH A2DP asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 4B. In some embodiments, each timeslot may be a standard BLUETOOTH time slot having the same duration(e.g., 625 μs), and the messages described in FIGS. 4D and 4E arecommunicated using WiFi communication such that multiple messages can becommunicated in a single standard BLUETOOTH time slot.

FIGS. 4F and 4G, are further timing diagrams of an exemplary wirelessaudio system implemented in another schedule. In this example, in afirst time slot (N), the audio source transmits an audio data packet(e.g., a BLUETOOTH audio data packet), and each of the ECC transmittingand receiving headphones receives the audio data packet. In the sametime slot (N), the ECC transmitting headphone transmits a first errorcorrecting message including an ECC or a pseudo error correcting messagewithout an ECC depending on whether the ECC transmitting headphonesuccessfully receives the audio data packet in time slot (N).

As shown in FIG. 4F, in the same time slot (N), the ECC receivingheadphone receives the first error correcting message or pseudo errorcorrecting message from the ECC transmitting headphone. In a second timeslot (N+1), the ECC receiving headphone may transmit an ACK message or aNACK message to the ECC transmitting headphone depending on whether itsuccessfully receives the audio data packet based on the first errorcorrecting message in the first time slot (N). If the ECC receivingheadphone fails to correctly receive the audio data packet based on thefirst error correcting message, in the third time slot (N+2), the ECCtransmitting headphone may transmit a second error correcting messageincluding the audio information to the ECC receiving headphone. In thesame time slot, the ECC receiving headphone receives the second errorcorrecting message. In some embodiments, the second error correctingmessage may also include the same ECC as the first error correctingmessage.

As shown in FIG. 4G, if in the second time slot (N+1) the ECCtransmitting headphone does not receive the ACK or the NACK message fromthe receiving headphone, in the third time slot (N+2), the ECCtransmitting headphone may re-transmit the first error correctingmessage including ECC to the ECC receiving headphone until (i) the ECCtransmitting headphone receives the ACK message or (ii) the first errorcorrecting message has been re-transmitted for more than a predeterminedtimes (e.g., 3 times, 5 times, 10 times etc.).

In some embodiments, if in the first time slot (N), the ECC transmittingheadphone does not successfully receive the audio data packet from theaudio source, then in the second time slot (N+1) or the third time slot(N+2), upon successfully receives the audio data packet in that timeslot, the ECC transmitting headphone transmits an ACK message to theaudio source as well.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 700 forwirelessly communicating audio information in accordance with anembodiment. Method 700 can be performed by processing logic that cancomprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not alloperations may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein.Further, some of the operations may be performed simultaneously, or in adifferent order than shown in FIG. 7, as will be understood by a personof ordinary skill in the art.

Method 700 shall be described with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2.However, method 700 is not limited to that exemplary embodiment.Starting at 702, a first type of short-range wireless communication,such as BLUETOOTH communication, is established with an audio source. Insome embodiments, the short-range wireless communication is establishedbetween primary wireless headphone 104 and audio source 102. At 704,communication parameters indicative of the short-range wirelesscommunication are transmitted. In some embodiments, the communicationparameters are transmitted from primary wireless headphone 104 tosecondary wireless headphone 106 using the first type of short-rangewireless communication, such as BLUETOOTH communication, or a secondtype of short-range wireless communication, such as WiFi communicationor NFMI communication. In some other embodiments, the communicationparameters may also be transmitted from secondary wireless headphone 106to primary wireless headphone 104 using the first type or the secondtype of short-range wireless communication.

At 706, audio information is received by an ECC transmitting headphonefrom the audio source using the first type of short-range wirelesscommunication, such as BLUETOOTH communication. In some embodiments, theECC transmitting headphone is primary wireless headphone 104, and theaudio information is received by primary wireless headphone 104 via thenormal communication link. In some embodiments, the ECC transmittingheadphone is secondary wireless headphone 106, and the audio informationis snooped by secondary wireless headphone 106 via the snoopcommunication link. In some embodiments, the transmitting headphone maytransmit a first ACK message indicating that the audio information isreceived correctly to the audio source in response to successfullyreceiving the audio information.

At 708, an ECC is generated by the ECC transmitting headphone based onthe audio information received by the ECC transmitting headphone inresponse to successfully receiving the audio information. The audioinformation may include an audio data packet (e.g., a BLUETOOTH audiodata packet), and the error correcting code may be generated by coding apayload of the audio data packet. In some embodiments, control module220 of primary wireless headphone 104 controls the coding of the payloadwhen primary wireless headphone 104 is the ECC transmitting headphone.In some embodiments, control module 234 of secondary wireless headphone106 controls the coding of the payload when secondary wireless headphone106 is the ECC transmitting headphone.

At 710, a first error correcting message including the ECC but not theaudio information is transmitted by the ECC transmitting headphone. Theerror correcting message may be transmitted based on a standard wirelesscommunication protocol (e.g., a BLUETOOTH protocol) in network layersabove a physical layer and transmitted at a higher symbol rate than thestandard BLUETOOTH protocol in the physical layer. The first errorcorrecting message may be transmitted using a second type of short-rangewireless communication different from the first type of short-rangewireless communication for transmitting the audio information. Forexample, the first type of short-range wireless communication isBLUETOOTH communication, and the second type of short-range wirelesscommunication is WiFi communication or NFMI communication. In oneexample, a BLUETOOTH audio data packet and the first error correctingmessage are transmitted in the same time slot subsequently. In anotherexample, a BLUETOOTH audio data packet is transmitted over multiple timeslots, and the first error correcting message is transmitted at the endof the last one or more of the multiple time slots. In some embodiments,second RF module 212 of primary wireless headphone 104 transmits thefirst error correcting message when primary wireless headphone 104 isthe ECC transmitting headphone. In some embodiments, second RF module226 of secondary wireless headphone 106 transmits the first errorcorrecting message when secondary wireless headphone 106 is the ECCtransmitting headphone.

At 712, the audio information is received by the ECC receiving headphonefrom the audio source using the first type of short-range wirelesscommunication, such as BLUETOOTH communication. In some embodiments, theECC receiving headphone is primary wireless headphone 104, and the audioinformation is received by primary wireless headphone 104 via the normalcommunication link. In some embodiments, the ECC receiving headphone issecondary wireless headphone 106, and the audio information is snoopedby secondary wireless headphone 106 via the snoop communication link.

At 714, the first error correcting message including the ECC is receivedby the ECC receiving headphone from the ECC transmitting headphone, forexample, using the first type of short-range wireless communication,such as WiFi communication or NFMI communication.

At 716, the audio information received from the audio source at 712 isattempted to be corrected based on the first error correcting message bythe ECC receiving headphone if the ECC receiving headphones detecterror(s) in the audio information.

At 718, a second error correcting message including the audioinformation is transmitted by the ECC transmitting headphone to the ECCreceiving headphone if the ECC receiving headphone detects the attemptto correct the received audio information is failed. In someembodiments, the second error correcting message may additionallyinclude the ECC generated by coding the payload of the audio datapacket. In some embodiments, the second error correcting message may betransmitted in the same manner as the first error correcting messagebeing transmitted. For example, the second error correcting message maybe transmitted based on a standard wireless communication protocol(e.g., a BLUETOOTH protocol) in network layers above a physical layerand transmitted at a higher symbol rate than the standard BLUETOOTHprotocol in the physical layer. In some embodiments, the second errorcorrecting message may be transmitted using a second type of short-rangewireless communication different from the first type of short-rangewireless communication for transmitting the audio information.

At 720, the second error correcting message including the ECC isreceived by the ECC receiving headphone from the ECC transmittingheadphone, for example, using the first type of short-range wirelesscommunication, such as WiFi communication or NFMI communication.

At 722, the audio information failed to be corrected at 716 based on thefirst error correcting message by the ECC receiving headphone iscorrected by the ECC receiving headphones based on the second errorcorrecting message that includes the audio information. The ECCreceiving headphone then can successfully receive the audio informationafter the correction.

In some embodiments, in method 700, the ECC receiving headphone isfurther configured to transmit a NACK message to the ECC transmittingheadphone indicating that the first error correcting message or thesecond error correcting message is not received correctly. In responseto receiving the NACK message, the ECC transmitting headphone mayre-transmit the first error correcting message or the second errorcorrecting message until (i) the ECC transmitting headphone receives asecond ACK message indicating that the ECC receiving headphone receivesthe first error correcting message or the second error correctingmessage correctly or (ii) the first error correcting message or thesecond error correcting message has been re-transmitted for more than apredetermined number of times. For one example, if the ECC transmittingheadphone receives the NACK message indicating that the first errorcorrecting message is not correctly received by the ECC receivingheadphone, the ECC transmitting headphone may re-transmit the firsterror correcting headphone to the ECC receiving headphone until the ECCreceiving headphone correctly receives the first error correctingmessage and transmit the second ACK message indicating that the firsterror correcting message has been received correctly. For anotherexample, if the ECC transmitting headphone receives the NACK messageindicating that the first error correcting message is not correctlyreceived by the ECC receiving headphone, the ECC transmitting headphonemay re-transmit the first error correcting headphone to the ECCreceiving headphone until the first error correcting message has beenre-transmitted for more than a predetermined number of times (e.g., 3times, 5 times, or 10 times). The second error correcting message may bere-transmitted in a similar mechanism as is to re-transmit the firsterror correcting message.

FIG. 8 is another flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 800 forwirelessly communicating audio information in accordance with anembodiment. Method 800 can be performed by processing logic that cancomprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not alloperations may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein.Further, some of the operations may be performed simultaneously, or in adifferent order than shown in FIG. 8, as will be understood by a personof ordinary skill in the art.

Method 800 shall be described with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2.However, method 800 is not limited to that exemplary embodiment.Starting at 802, a first type of short-range wireless communication,such as BLUETOOTH communication, is established with an audio source. Insome embodiments, the short-range wireless communication is establishedbetween primary wireless headphone 104 and audio source 102. At 804,communication parameters indicative of the short-range wirelesscommunication are transmitted. In some embodiments, the communicationparameters are transmitted from primary wireless headphone 104 tosecondary wireless headphone 106 using the first type of short-rangewireless communication, such as BLUETOOTH communication, or a secondtype of short-range wireless communication, such as WiFi communicationor NFMI communication. In some other embodiments, the communicationparameters may also be transmitted from secondary wireless headphone 106to primary wireless headphone 104 using the first type or the secondtype of short-range wireless communication.

At 806, the audio information is received by an ECC transmittingheadphone from the audio source using the first type of short-rangewireless communication, such as BLUETOOTH communication. In someembodiments, the audio information may include a header and a payload.In some embodiments, the ECC transmitting headphone is primary wirelessheadphone 104, and the audio information is received by primary wirelessheadphone 104 via the normal communication link. In some embodiments,the ECC transmitting headphone is secondary wireless headphone 106, andthe audio information is snooped by secondary wireless headphone 106 viathe snoop communication link.

At 808, the audio information is received by an ECC receiving headphonefrom the audio source using the first type of short-range wirelesscommunication, such as BLUETOOTH communication. In some embodiments, theECC receiving headphone is primary wireless headphone 104, and the audioinformation is received by primary wireless headphone 104 via the normalcommunication link. In some embodiments, the ECC receiving headphone issecondary wireless headphone 106, and the audio information is snoopedby secondary wireless headphone 106 via the snoop communication link.

In some embodiments, the ECC transmitting headphone and the ECCreceiving headphone may be dynamically switched between primary wirelessheadphone 104 and secondary wireless headphone 106 based on a signalquality of each of the ECC transmitting headphone and the ECC receivingheadphone. For example, the ECC transmitting headphone is always thewireless headphone with better signals.

At 810, the ECC receiving headphone determines if it receives the audioinformation correctly. At 812, if the ECC receiving headphone correctlyreceives the audio information, a first ACK message indicating the ECCreceiving headphone receives both the header and the payload of theaudio information correctly will be transmitted to the ECC transmittingheadphone.

At 814, an ECC is generated by the ECC transmitting headphone based onthe audio information received by the ECC transmitting headphone if theECC receiving headphone determines it does not receive the audioinformation correctly. The error correcting code may be generated bycoding a payload of the audio data packet of the audio information. Insome embodiments, control module 220 of primary wireless headphone 104controls the coding of the payload when primary wireless headphone 104is the ECC transmitting headphone. In some embodiments, control module234 of secondary wireless headphone 106 controls the coding of thepayload when secondary wireless headphone 106 is the ECC transmittingheadphone.

At 816, in response to the ECC receiving headphone determines that itdoes not correctly receive the audio information, the ECC receivingheadphone further determines if it receives the header of the audioinformation correctly.

At 818 a first NACK message indicating the ECC receiving headphonereceives the header, but not the payload of the audio informationcorrectly is generated and transmitted to the ECC transmitting headphoneif the ECC receiving headphone determines it receives the header of theaudio information correctly.

At 820, a first error correcting message including the ECC but not theaudio information is transmitted by the ECC transmitting headphone inresponse to the ECC receiving headphone receives the header, but not thepayload, of the audio information correctly. The error correctingmessage may be transmitted based on a standard wireless communicationprotocol (e.g., a BLUETOOTH protocol) in network layers above a physicallayer and transmitted at a higher symbol rate than the standardBLUETOOTH protocol in the physical layer. The first error correctingmessage may be transmitted using a second type of short-range wirelesscommunication different from the first type of short-range wirelesscommunication for transmitting the audio information. For example, thefirst type of short-range wireless communication is BLUETOOTHcommunication, and the second type of short-range wireless communicationis an amended BLUETOOTH communication, a WiFi communication or an NFMIcommunication. In one example, a BLUETOOTH audio data packet and thefirst error correcting message are transmitted in the same time slotsubsequently. In another example, a BLUETOOTH audio data packet istransmitted over multiple time slots, and the first error correctingmessage is transmitted at the end of the last one or more of themultiple time slots. In some embodiments, second RF module 212 ofprimary wireless headphone 104 transmits the error correcting messagewhen primary wireless headphone 104 is the ECC transmitting headphone.In some embodiments, second RF module 226 of secondary wirelessheadphone 106 transmits the error correcting message when secondarywireless headphone 106 is the ECC transmitting headphone.

At 822 a second NACK message indicating the ECC receiving headphone doesnot receive the header nor the payload of the audio informationcorrectly is generated and transmitted to the ECC transmitting headphoneif the ECC receiving headphone determines it does not receive the headerof the audio information correctly.

At 824, a second error correcting message including the audioinformation is transmitted by the ECC transmitting headphone in responseto the ECC transmitting headphone receives the second NACK. In someembodiments, the second error correcting message may additionallyinclude the error correcting code generated by coding a payload of theaudio data packet. In some embodiments, the second error correctingmessage may be transmitted in the same manner as the first errorcorrecting message being transmitted.

In some embodiments, in method 800, the ECC receiving headphone isfurther configured to transmit a third NACK message to the ECCtransmitting headphone indicating that the first error correctingmessage or the second error correcting message is not receivedcorrectly. In response to receiving the third NACK message, the ECCtransmitting headphone may re-transmit the first error correctingmessage or the second error correcting message until (i) the ECCtransmitting headphone receives a second ACK message indicating that theECC receiving headphone receives the first error correcting message orthe second error correcting message correctly or (ii) the first errorcorrecting message or the second error correcting message has beenre-transmitted for more than a predetermined number of times. For oneexample, if the ECC transmitting headphone receives the third NACKmessage indicating that the first error correcting message is notcorrectly received by the ECC receiving headphone, the ECC transmittingheadphone may re-transmit the first error correcting headphone to theECC receiving headphone until the ECC receiving headphone correctlyreceives the first error correcting message and transmit the second ACKmessage indicating that the first error correcting message has beenreceived correctly. For another example, if the ECC transmittingheadphone receives the third NACK message indicating that the firsterror correcting message is not correctly received by the ECC receivingheadphone, the ECC transmitting headphone may re-transmit the firsterror correcting headphone to the ECC receiving headphone until thefirst error correcting message has been re-transmitted for more than apredetermined number of times (e.g., 3 times, 5 times, or 10 times). Thesecond error correcting message may be re-transmitted in a similarmechanism as is to re-transmit the first error correcting message.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating still another exemplary method 900for wirelessly communicating audio information in accordance with anembodiment. Method 900 can be performed by processing logic that cancomprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not alloperations may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein.Further, some of the operations may be performed simultaneously, or in adifferent order than shown in FIG. 9, as will be understood by a personof ordinary skill in the art.

Method 900 may be performed by whichever wireless headphone that failsto receive the audio information correctly and also fails to correct theaudio information based on a first error correcting message disclosedherein regardless of whether it is primary wireless headphone 104 orsecondary wireless headphone 106. Starting at 902, a first type ofshort-range wireless communication is established with an audio source.In some embodiments, the short-range wireless communication isestablished between primary wireless headphone 104 and audio source 102.At 904, communication parameters indicative of the short-range wirelesscommunication are transmitted. In some embodiments, the communicationparameters are transmitted from primary wireless headphone 104 tosecondary wireless headphone 106 using the first type of short-rangewireless communication, such as BLUETOOTH communication, or a secondtype of short-range wireless communication, such as WiFi communicationor NFMI communication. In some other embodiments, the communicationparameters may also be transmitted from secondary wireless headphone 106to primary wireless headphone 104 using the first type or the secondtype of short-range wireless communication. With the parameter, thereceiving wireless headphone may snoop and/or receive audio informationfrom audio source 102.

At 906, the audio information is received by both primary wirelessheadphone 104 and second wireless headphone 106 from the audio sourceusing the first type of short-range wireless communication. At 908, bothprimary wireless headphone 104 and second wireless headphone 106transmit a first error correcting message including an ECC by coding thepayload of the BLUETOOTH audio data packet of the audio information tothe other wireless headphone for correcting errors in the audio packetof the audio information. At 910, in case where one of primary wirelessheadphone 104 or second wireless headphone 106 fails to correct errorsin the audio packet of the audio information, the wireless headphonereceives a second error correcting message including the audioinformation from the other wireless headphone for correcting errors inthe audio packet of the audio information. In some embodiments, thesecond error correcting message may additionally include the ECCgenerated by coding a payload of the audio data packet.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating still another exemplary method 1000for wirelessly communicating audio information in accordance with anembodiment. Method 1000 can be performed by processing logic that cancomprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not alloperations may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein.Further, some of the operations may be performed simultaneously, or in adifferent order than shown in FIG. 10, as will be understood by a personof ordinary skill in the art.

Method 1000 may be performed by a determining headphone disclosed hereinregardless of whether it is primary wireless headphone 104 or secondarywireless headphone 106. Starting at 1002, a first type of short-rangewireless communication is established with an audio source. In someembodiments, the short-range wireless communication is establishedbetween primary wireless headphone 104 and audio source 102. At 1004,communication parameters indicative of the short-range wirelesscommunication are transmitted. In some embodiments, the communicationparameters are transmitted from primary wireless headphone 104 tosecondary wireless headphone 106 using the first type of short-rangewireless communication, such as BLUETOOTH communication, or a secondtype of short-range wireless communication, such as WiFi communicationor NFMI communication. In some other embodiments, the communicationparameters may also be transmitted from secondary wireless headphone 106to primary wireless headphone 104 using the first type or the secondtype of short-range wireless communication. With the parameter, thereceiving wireless headphone may snoop and/or receive audio informationfrom audio source 102.

At 1006, the audio information is received by both primary wirelessheadphone 104 and second wireless headphone 106 from the audio sourceusing the first type of short-range wireless communication. At 1008,both primary wireless headphone 104 and second wireless headphone 106determines if it receives the audio information correctly. At 1010, ifthe determining headphone determines that it correctly receives theaudio information, a first ACK message indicating the determiningheadphone receives both the header and the payload of the audioinformation correctly will be transmitted to the other headphone.

At 1012, the determining headphone further determines if it receives theheader of the audio information correctly in response to the determiningheadphone determines that it does not correctly receive the audioinformation. At 1014, a first NACK message indicating the determiningheadphone receives the header, but not the payload of the audioinformation correctly is generated and transmitted to the otherheadphone if the determining headphone determines it receives the headerof the audio information correctly. At 1016, a first error correctingmessage including the ECC generated by coding a payload of the audiodata packet of the audio information but not the audio information istransmitted by the determining headphone in response to the determiningheadphone receives the header, but not the payload, of the audioinformation correctly. At 1018, a second NACK message indicating thedetermining headphone does not receive the header nor the payload of theaudio information correctly is generated and transmitted to the otherheadphone if the determining headphone determines it does not receivethe header of the audio information correctly. At 1020, a second errorcorrecting message including the audio information is transmitted by thedetermining headphone in response to the other headphone receives thesecond NACK. In some embodiments, the second error correcting messagemay additionally include the ECC generated by coding a payload of theaudio data packet.

It is understood that all the error correcting messages including theaudio information disclosed herein may additionally include the ECCgenerated by coding the payload of an audio data packet. In other words,the difference between the first error correcting messages and thesecond error correcting messages may only be whether it includes theaudio information.

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notthe Summary and Abstract sections, is intended to be used to interpretthe claims. The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or morebut not all exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure ascontemplated by the inventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limit thepresent disclosure or the appended claims in any way.

While the present disclosure has been described herein with reference toexemplary embodiments for exemplary fields and applications, it shouldbe understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Otherembodiments and modifications thereto are possible, and are within thescope and spirit of the present disclosure. For example, and withoutlimiting the generality of this paragraph, embodiments are not limitedto the software, hardware, firmware, and/or entities illustrated in thefigures and/or described herein. Further, embodiments (whether or notexplicitly described herein) have significant utility to fields andapplications beyond the examples described herein.

Embodiments have been described herein with the aid of functionalbuilding blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functionsand relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of thedescription. Alternate boundaries can be defined as long as thespecified functions and relationships (or equivalents thereof) areappropriately performed. Also, alternative embodiments may performfunctional blocks, steps, operations, methods, etc. using orderingsdifferent than those described herein.

The breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited byany of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be definedonly in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless audio system, comprising: A firstwireless headphone configured to: receive, from an audio source, audioinformation using a short-range wireless communication; and in responseto successfully receiving the audio information from the audio source,transmit a first error correcting message comprising an error correctingcode generated based on the audio information to a second wirelessheadphone; and the second wireless headphone configured to: receive theaudio information from the audio source using the short-range wirelesscommunication; attempt to correct the received audio information basedon the first error correcting message; and determine that the receivedaudio information fails to be corrected; and wherein in response to thedetermination, the first wireless headphone is further configured totransmit a second error correcting message comprising the received audioinformation to the second wireless headphone.
 2. The wireless audiosystem of claim 1, wherein the first wireless headphone is furtherconfigured to transmit communication parameters associated with theshort-range wireless communication to the second wireless headphone toenable the second wireless headphone to receive the audio informationfrom the audio source based on the communication parameters.
 3. Thewireless audio system of claim 1, wherein: the second wireless headphoneis further configured to transmit a negative acknowledgment (NACK)message to the first wireless headphone indicating that the first errorcorrecting message or the second error correcting message is notreceived correctly; and the first wireless headphone is furtherconfigured to, in response to receiving the NACK message, re-transmitthe first error correcting message or the second error correctingmessage until (i) the first wireless headphone receives anacknowledgement (ACK) message from the second wireless headphoneindicating that the second wireless headphone receives the first errorcorrecting message or the second error correcting message correctly, or(ii) the first error correcting message or the second error correctingmessage has been re-transmitted for more than a predetermined number oftimes.
 4. The wireless audio system of claim 1, wherein: the audioinformation includes a BLUETOOTH audio data packet; and the errorcorrecting code is generated by coding a payload of the BLUETOOTH audiodata packet.
 5. The wireless audio system of claim 1, wherein the seconderror correcting message further comprises the error correcting code. 6.The wireless audio system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality ofshort-range wireless communication links working at differentfrequencies between the first and the second wireless headphones.
 7. Thewireless audio system of claim 1, wherein in response to successfullyreceiving the audio information, the first wireless headphone is furtherconfigured to transmit, to the audio source, a first ACK messageindicating that the audio information is received correctly.
 8. Thewireless audio system of claim 7, wherein in response to the firstwireless headphone not transmitting the first ACK message to the audiosource, the second wireless headphone is further configured to transmita second ACK message to the audio source in response to the secondwireless headphone correcting the received audio information based onthe first error correcting message or the second error correctingmessage.
 9. A wireless audio system, comprising: a first wirelessheadphone configured to receive, from an audio source, audio informationcomprising a header and a payload using a short-range wirelesscommunication; and a second wireless headphone configured to: receivethe audio information from the audio source using the short-rangewireless communication; transmit either one of a first ACK messageindicating the second wireless headphone receives the header and thepayload of the audio information correctly, a first NACK messageindicating the second wireless headphone receives the header, but notthe payload, of the audio information correctly, or a second NACKmessage indicating the second wireless headphone does not receive theheader and the payload of the audio information correctly to the firstwireless headphone; wherein the first wireless headphone is furtherconfigured to: receive the at least one of the first ACK message, thefirst NACK message and the second NACK message; transmit, to the secondwireless headphone, a first error correcting message comprising an errorcorrecting code generated based on the audio information in response toreceiving the first NACK message; and transmit, to the second wirelessheadphone, a second error correcting message comprising the receivedaudio information in response to receiving the second NACK message. 10.The wireless audio system of claim 9, wherein the first wirelessheadphone is further configured to transmit communication parametersassociated with the short-range wireless communication to the secondwireless headphone to enable the second wireless headphone to receivethe audio information from the audio source based on the communicationparameters.
 11. The wireless audio system of claim 9, wherein: thesecond wireless headphone is further configured to transmit a third NACKmessage to the first wireless headphone indicating that the first errorcorrecting message or the second error correcting message is notreceived correctly; and wherein the first wireless headphone is furtherconfigured to, in response to receiving the third NACK message,re-transmit the first error correcting message or the second errorcorrecting message until (i) the first wireless headphone receives asecond ACK message indicating that the second wireless headphonereceives the first error correcting message or the second errorcorrecting message correctly or (ii) the first error correcting messageor the second error correcting message has been re-transmitted for morethan a predetermined number of times.
 12. The wireless audio system ofclaim 9, wherein the second error correcting message further comprisesthe error correcting code.
 13. The wireless audio system of claim 9,wherein the first and second wireless headphones are configured to bedynamically switched based on a signal quality of each of the first andthe second wireless headphones.
 14. The wireless audio system of claim9, further comprising a plurality of short-range wireless communicationlinks working at different frequencies between the first and the secondwireless headphones.
 15. The wireless audio system of claim 14, whereinthe plurality of short-range wireless communication links comprise atleast one of BLUETOOTH communication, BLUETOOTH Low Energycommunication, amended BLUETOOTH communication, Wi-Fi communication, orNear-Field Magnetic Induction communication (NFMI) communication.
 16. Amethod for wirelessly communicating audio information, comprising:receiving, by a first wireless headphone, audio information using ashort-range wireless communication from an audio source; in response tosuccessfully receiving the audio information from the audio source,transmitting, by the first wireless headphone, a first error correctingmessage comprising an error correcting code generated based on the audioinformation to a second wireless headphone; receiving, by the secondwireless headphone, the audio information from the audio source usingthe short-range wireless communication; attempting, by the secondwireless headphone, to correct the received audio information based onthe first error correcting code; determining, by the second wirelessheadphone, that the received audio information fails to be corrected;and in response to the determination, transmitting, by the firstwireless headphone, a second error correcting message comprising thereceived audio information to the second wireless headphone.
 17. Themethod of claim 16 further comprising dynamically switching the firstand second wireless headphones based on a signal quality of each of thefirst and second wireless headphones.
 18. The method of claim 16 furthercomprising transmitting, communication parameters associated with theshort-range wireless communication, by the first wireless headphone tothe second wireless headphone to enable the second wireless headphone toreceive the audio information from the audio source based on thecommunication parameters.
 19. The method of claim 16 further comprisingtransmitting, by the first wireless headphone, an ACK message to theaudio source in response to the first wireless headphone correctlyreceive the audio information.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein thefirst error correcting message and the second error correcting messageare transmitted in different packets.
 21. A method for wirelesslycommunicating audio information, comprising: receiving, by a firstwireless headphone, audio information comprising a header and a payloadusing a short-range wireless communication from an audio source;receiving, by a second wireless headphone, the audio information fromthe audio source using the short-range wireless communication;transmitting, by the second wireless headphone to the first wirelessheadphone, either one of an ACK message indicating the second wirelessheadphone receives the header and the payload of the audio informationcorrectly, a first NACK message indicating the second wireless headphonereceives the header, but not the payload, of the audio informationcorrectly, or a second NACK message indicating the second wirelessheadphone does not receive the header nor the payload of the audioinformation correctly; transmitting, by the first wireless headphone tothe second wireless headphone, a first error correcting messagecomprising an error correcting code generated based on the audioinformation in response to the first wireless headphone receives thefirst NACK message; and transmitting, by the first wireless headphone tothe second wireless headphone, a second error correcting messagecomprising the received audio information in response to the secondwireless headphone receives the first NACK message.
 22. The method ofclaim 21 further comprising transmitting, by the first wirelessheadphone to the second wireless headphone, parameters associated withthe short-range wireless communication, to enable the second wirelessheadphone to receive the audio information from the audio source basedon the communication parameters.
 23. The method of claim 21 furthercomprising dynamically switching the first wireless headphone and secondwireless headphone based on a signal quality of each of the firstwireless headphone and the second wireless headphone.